You didn't seriously think we would take them along in the unlikely event

that the seller turned out to be the Craig's List Killer, now did you?

{ Rest assured we took a large knife and pepper spray for moderate protection. }

The transaction went smooth; just as agreed upon before we left West Virginia.

The 'vintage battle ax' as Rob has dubbed it, is in a much better condition than the pictures showed.

The most humerous part about the exchange was that the man's wife (who was our age)

upon meeting us let out a huge sigh of relief that we weren't the Craig's List Killer!

Obviously there was a bunch of hype over nothing - but we opted to meet them at an Apple Bee's parking lot vs. going to their home.

And wouldn't you know... Ikea just happened to be right beside Apple Bees!

Rob nor I had never been to an Ikea. I've heard lots about the store, saw lots of cool photos online, and began to make my master shopping list...

5 pages to be exact containing 42 items.

In the end it took us over 3 hours to make it through the store the first time.

Yes. I said first time.

As we were shuffled towards the exit to pay, I realized I was still short a pillow I wanted.

We went to the car, snapped a quick photo, and ran back in the store.

Rob was such a trooper. I expected him to walk in, glance around, find out that there wasn't a "man section"

and wait for me out in the car while he played the bass. Instead he carried all of our items with a smile on his face!

You WILL get to see most all of my goodies that we bought; the focus of the trip was for Nolan's room.

You know - the one that has never been decorated. Not even so much as a picture hung.

Yep - that one. The bed linens from Ikea have really impressed us with the quality for their price.

The goal is, once I finish Kensley's room (still needs a light fixture and curtains) and then finish Nolan's room... OUR ROOM IS NEXT!!!

We have lived in our home for over 3.5 years... Rob assures me we aren't moving anytime soon (or ever in his book)

so it's time to start pounding some holes in the walls, right?

No, we did not purchase my entire wish list. Some items I wanted to see the quality, others I wanted to see the exact shade of color.

I will be returning to Ikea again in April in conjunction with an awesome opportunity to attend a Home School Convention with a dear friend of mine.

** Side note ** If you have never been to an Ikea before - you must purchase their milk chocolate bars from Sweden

After a steak dinner (Yes, it was a real date, I ate red meat - my Dad should be proud) we did what most tourists would do, wandered around the town. We stopped at a few stores for me; Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, and Target and found a Guitar Center for Rob..
{Rob even got his picture taken with Bootsy Collins and Larry Graham.}

It was just a wonderful time.
We weren't rushed.

Rob didn't give me a budget.

We got updates that the kids were doing well.

But most importantly, we used the time to focus on us.

We kept talk about the kids down to a minimum and talked about our hobbies, our interests, our goals.

For me, it was the perfect date - I'm already looking forward to doing something similar next year!

.. I'm CaSandra ..

I'm a thirty-something follower of CHRIST. I'm thrilled to be married to an amazing man who works hard to provide for our family and shows off some funky bass licks in our church's Praise and Worship Team. I'm a stay at home Mom to our two children, but we never stay at home! I blog because it's cheaper than therapy and is a wonderful online journal for our children to read one day. I'm most comfortable when I'm wearing orange, shooting pictures and munching on a handful of candy!